2010 Château Montrose

The 2010 Château Montrose is just now starting to drink well, though bottles from my cellar remain stubbornly backward and closed. This showing, however, revealed rocking levels of cassis, graphite, spring flowers, crushed stone, and spicy leather. Full-bodied, incredibly pure, and balanced, it has a seamless mouthfeel, tons of ripe tannins, and a gorgeous, layered finish. It’s a riveting, multi-dimensional Montrose that ranks with the true greats of the vintage. It deserves another decade of bottle age and will see the turn of the century in fine form. Drink 2035-2100.

This is up there with the best of the tastings, just nods past the 2009. Less generous perhaps but here you see the beauty and precision of the construction, and the ability to just knock the fruit and tannins out of the park - I love both, but this has the edge in terms of juice, and the Left Bank classicism of bilberry, cassis, olive, mint leaf, graphite, scraping texture and vertical lift on the finish. Jean-Bernard Delmas director.

The 2010 Montrose is one of the highlights of the Icons of Bordeaux dinner. It has a show-stopper nose with powerful, intense, mineral-rich black fruit, becoming quite floral with aeration. Potpourri hints complement tobacco notes. The palate is fresh, vibrant and weighty, yet paradoxically, it has wonderful finesse. There is a symmetry about this Montrose, coupled with a tremendous length that leaves you wanting more. Brilliant. Tasted from an ex-château bottle at the Icons of Bordeaux dinner at Legacy Records in New York.